Hare coursing is one of the most common wildlife crimes in the Borders. Credit: PA

Three men have been arrested and charged with hare coursing crimes in the Scottish Borders, and other parts of Scotland.

A 35-year-old, from Edinburgh, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday 10 March in connection with five hare coursing offences committed between 21st October 2015 and 3rd February 2016.

One of the offences allegedly took place in the Duns area of the Scottish Borders.

Two offences took place in the North Berwick area, and one in the East Fortune area of East Lothian.

A further offence took place in the Pathhead area of Midlothian.

Two men, aged 31 from Airdrie and 47 from Musselburgh, have also been charged and reported to the Procurator Fiscal under the Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981) in connection with the offences in Pathhead and Duns.

Hare coursing is a barbaric act and a terrifying death for an animal.

It is currently the most prevalent form of wildlife crime in the Lothian’s and Scottish Borders, and we are committed to pursuing offenders regardless of the times and distances involved.

Perpetrators are willing to travel considerable distances to take part in hare coursing and may be involved in other forms of criminality, such as the theft of agricultural machinery or equipment.

The presence of a number of dogs and off-road vehicles can also risk the safety of local livestock, as well as damaging the land.

With the assistance of our communities and partners, we can bring offenders to justice. I’d urge the those who live, work or visit the countryside to continue to report any suspicious behaviour to us as soon as possible.”

A display of classic cars will be on show in Duns this weekend, along with one of Scotland's most successful racing drivers, for the Jim Clark Weekend.

The free public event is being held in the hometown of Formula One legend Jim Clark.

There will be a static display of cars that he raced in on Saturday, and a parade of racing cars through the town on Sunday. There will also be a tractor parade, to celebrate Jim's local farming roots.

The weekend is to celebrate 50 years since Jim Clark's famous 1965 season, when he won his second Formula One World Championship, the Formula Two World Championship, Indianapolis 500, and the Tasman Championship.

One of Scotland's top current racers will also be there - Allan McNish - who has three Le Mans 24 Hour Race titles to his name, and is himself a former Formula One driver:

I am very much looking forward to visiting Duns for the Jim Clark Weekend on what is going to be a fantastic celebration of Jim's success.

It will be really cool to see an extremely rare Lotus 38 similar to the Indy 500 winning car and classic Lotus F1 cars in which he claimed his World titles, cars that in his hands brought so much success and also pride to our country."

– Allan McNish

The event is being organised by Club Lotus, and the Jim Clark Trust.

Earlier this year the Trust announced plans for a new £1.2 million redevelopment of the existing Jim Clark Museum in partnership with Scottish Borders Council.

A rally driver from Duns, in the Scottish Borders, has just been crowned Scottish Rally Champion for the first time.

Euan Thorburn, and his co-driver Paul Beaton, won the prestigious title after beating rivals David Bogie and Kevin Rae on the McRae Stages rally in Perth.

Euan Thorburn won the McRae rally for the first time Credit: Euan Thorburn

Bogie, from Dumfries, has won the last five championships consecutively, but has been under pressure from Thorburn all year.

The two drivers went into the penultimate round of the championship with three wins each, but as they only count their best six of eight scores, a win for Thorburn was enough to take the title. Both Thorburn and Bogie had been battling it out all day over the 40 miles of Perthshire stages.

Going into the final stage there were only a few seconds separating the two, but it was Bogie who made the mistake and slid off.

This allowed Thorburn to take advantage of his mistake and take home the win.

The McRae stages is named after rallying legend Colin McRae, who was also one of Thorburn's heros.

The Duns driver will now go down in history as a motorsport champion, along with racing legend Jim Clark who is from the same Borders town.

The exhibition will look at how Duns was affected by the Great War Credit: PA Wire

A new exhibition is looking at how the Great War affected Duns and the surrounding area, despite being miles from the front line.

Shops and businesses had to cope with less staff as their employees signed up to fight 'for King and country'. Everyone was involved in fundraising to buy ships, planes and tanks. They also collected home comforts for the men in the trenches.

Women went back into work and began to take on roles they had never had before. Berwickshire also fell victim with stray zeppelin bombs showering the district in 1916. All things considered Duns and its environs had a large part to play in this new type of war.

Photographs, objects, local newspapers and town council records have been used to build up a picture of Duns in the 1914-18 period. Many local people have loaned family items to also display.

‘The Great War in Duns’ exhibition is in Duns Library Contact Centre and will be open during library open hours from 4th October to 15th November.